The Red Bluff City Council adopted a resolution Tuesday night placing a sales use tax of an additional 0.25 percent on purchases within the city on the November ballot.

It will be accompanied by a non-binding advisory measure, which will ask voters whether they would like to see 85 percent of the revenue raised from the tax spent specifically on improving police and fire services.

The tax is equivalent to an additional penny for every $4 spent.

City staff estimates the tax could raise an additional $600,000 in revenue for the city”s general fund coffers.

If passed by voters, the tax would need to be renewed again in six years.

Police Chief Paul Nanfito had asked the council in December to place the tax measure before voters. He said an informal survey conducted by his department in the spring of 2013 showed Red Bluff voters would support the tax to increase law enforcement services.

City staff later said the tax should be used to upgrade the fire department”s aging equipment.

The council chose not to specifically earmark the tax revenue for those purposes because that type of vote would have required two-thirds proposal.

Instead the council pushed for a general tax raise that would require only a simple majority of voters to pass. However under state law revenue from such taxes can not be specifically earmarked.

That led to an additional advisory measure, where voters will be asked if 85 percent of the revenue should be used for public safety departments.

That amount typically reflects what percent of the general budget is already spent on police and fire.

The only argument raised by a council member was regarding the advisory measure.

Councilman Clay Parker said the advisory measure wasn”t even worth the paper it would be printed on, since it meant nothing. He voted against the advisory measure, but supported all other aspects related to the tax ballot measure.

Councilman Wayne Brown defended the advisory measure, saying it was another way to show voters what the council”s intentions was for the tax and for voters to be able to tell future councils where they wanted the money spent.

Two weeks after directing City Manager Richard Crabtree to draw up the proper documents for the tax measures there was little discussion amongst the council itself in regards to putting it before voters.

Councilman Rob Schmid said he wanted to go on record in support of the tax, but he also offered a warning.

“My biggest concern is instead of building our public safety, we end up giving it away as raises as pay incentives for one thing or another,” he said.

Schmid said he believed voters would pass the tax if they believed it would go toward upgrading public safety. He said tax payers would not be happy if they found out they had taken money out of their own pockets to give someone else a raise.

Parker said he didn”t necessarily believe that was true. He said while raises weren”t the intent of the tax proposal, he believed some would support increasing wages so the city could attract and maintain better personnel in the future.

“It will be our job to help educate and at least put forth our intent with this ballot measure,” Mayor Daniele Jackson said.

November ballot measures

Transactions and Use Tax: To support police and fire staffing, replace police and fire equipment, enhance recreation and parks, and for other general fund purposes, shall a quarter percent transactions and use tax (“sales tax”) be adopted for a period of six years, subject to annual audits?

Advisory measure: If the voters of the City of Red Bluff approve a transactions and use tax, should the City Council allocate 85% of proceeds of the new tax to the improvement of police and fire services and allocate the remainder to support parks, recreation and other general fund services?